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Description

We're a young vegan couple living in a pink villa on top of a hill in the Matese National Park surrounded by nature and our animals. Lou, 30, is Dutch and Luca, 28, is from Napoli. A year ago, we said goodbye to Amsterdam to live a more balanced life in a quiet place, right next to the beautiful Ailano, where everyone knows each other and coffees cost only 5o cents!

At home we speak English and Italian, but we can also speak Dutch, German and Spanish!

We're part of an organization called La Mano sulla Roccia and we're looking for workawayers to help us out at our home and at La Mano sulla Roccia, which consists of a beautiful apartment building in which you'll share an apartment with 3 other workawayers and where you'll mainly help out in the garden.

1. We always need help at La Mano sulla Roccia in Pratella with organic and biological gardening, building, cleaning and cooking.
2. And sometimes we'll have availability at our place in Ailano too! At our place we're looking for someone to help us take care of our animals: chickens, cats, rabbits and dogs & who can lend a hand in the house and garden. Soon we'll also have sheep!

Both places are equally quiet and relaxing! Do note that in Ailano, we only eat vegan food :)!

Are you looking for a unique mindful, relaxing experience in nature, working max. 4 hours a day, with lots of opportunities to explore the region (plus we'll definitely take you around too)?
And do you come by car or do you not mind just to read, walk around and visit the little village Pratella or Ailano on foot (because there's almost no public transport)?

Then wait no longer! We're looking forward to meeting you :).

Type of help

GardeningBuildingGeneral MaintenanceCooking / shoppingFarmstayOtherHelp with Eco projectHelp in the houseAnimal careCharity work

Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

You get to know the South of Italy, which is so amazingly different from the rest of Europe, authentic to a fault and mainly, really warm and friendly, plus the food is fantastic!

Luca can teach you all about Napoli, Italian gestures and Italian family life and how to play the guitar and Lou knows a fair deal about veganism, mindfulness, yoga, how to write and do arts.

Plus, at La Mano sulla Roccia you'll learn lots about gardening and different kind of herbs!

Help

An average day at La Mano sulla Roccia will look like this:

7.30 Breakfast with your fellow workawayers
8.30 Help in the garden, altogether - taking turns in picking out some music!
10.30 Small break - eating some fruit and enjoying the views
11.00 One or two more hours of gardening :)!

12.30 Prepare a big lunch together
13.00 Food (the most important thing in Italy)!
14.00 - 18.00 Whatever you feel like... perhaps a good hike, some sightseeing, reading a book in the garden, roaming the land, yoga or some board games

19.00 Prepare a nice dinner together with your fellow workawayers
20.00 Eat :D!
21.00 Clean up any mess you made throughout the day
21.30 Relaxed evening time

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An average day in AIlano will look like this:

8.00: Feed the chickens, cats, bunnies and sheep and set them free
8.15: Go for a walk with our dog through the mountains
9.00: Breakfast together. If we're lucky, Luca will make pancakes!
10.00-12.00: Work in the garden to cultivate our veggies and plant more flowers or perhaps build a new chicken or rabbit pen!

12.00 - 15.00: Enjoy your time off and go visit Ailano, Prata or the beautiful Fontegreca

15.00: Lunch by Luca, who truly is an amazing Neapolitan cook
16.30: Walk with the dogs, or perhaps run
17.15: Clean the kitchen & sweep the house
18.00: Your workday is over! Perhaps play a board game, chill out or join Lou for a bit of yoga?
19.00: Reading, pingpong, arts, music and/or movie time!

Now, these are just examples. We're pretty relaxed with time. There will just be some things that need to be done over here, after that's done, you can take all the time you want to chill out, read, walk around, enjoy amazing food and cuddle the animals. Perhaps we can even go horse riding!

Languages spoken

English, Dutch, Italian, German, Spanish

Accommodation

At La Mano sulla Roccia in Pratella:
You'll be staying in a large 100m2 apartment overlooking the valley which you'll share with maximum 3 other workawayers. Couples will always have their own room. Single travellers might have to share a room, but no worries, because they're pretty spacious!

Here you can eat whatever you like :).

At Ailano:
We've got a spacious room with two comfy 2 by 1.20 metres beds and a balcony with an amazing view of the valley. If you want, you can always eat with us!

We eat breakfast and a big lunch/dinner around 15.00/16.00. Luca cooks something super Italian and delicious every day with fresh, biological and organic veggies and often pasta.

If you want to cook for yourself in Ailano, we'd like to ask you to only eat vegan or vegetarian food :).

What else ...

Time off? Go check out Fontegreca, the Telese terms, Letino, Gallo, the castle in Vairano Patenora, climb some mountains, read from our library, do some arts, discover what birds fly around, watch the eagles or, of course, enjoy a coffee in Ailano.

We've got a mountain bike you can borrow, plus we often go to Napoli, so sometimes you can just come with us to enjoy a day in the city!

BEST TO COME BY CAR - IF NOT, ALSO FINE! Unfortunately, it's not possible to reach our place with public transport and without a car it's pretty much impossible to do some sightseeing of your own :). If you're cool with staying at La Mano sulla Roccia or at our place or walk to the village (25 min walk in both cases) that's also fine! Plus, we will definitely take you around a bit, because we love to do some exploring of our own too!

At La Mano sulla Roccia in Pratella:
Initially, you can stay for 7 to 10 days. However, if we love working together with you, you're welcome to stay for up to a month or even longer!

In Ailano:
Because most work is seasonal our minimum stay is 4 days and maximum stay is 7 days. So if you're looking for a short and lovely stay, do contact us!!!

We can also combine the stays: 4 days in Ailano and 10 at La Mano sulla Roccia!

A little more information

Internet access

Limited internet access

We have pets

We are smokers

How many Workawayers can stay?

Two

Hours expected

If we have to rate Martina and Sebastian on a scale of 1 to 10, we give them a 12! What an amazing experience having them over at ours for two weeks. They are absolutely the best with animals - our dogs almost love them more than us - and their vegan cooking is the stuff of legends. On top of that, they help out amazingly and they're just… read more absolutely the best and most wonderful people to have around. Imagine... we even asked them to babysit our house and animals in the future when we go on holidays!
So if you're looking for two trustworthy, lovely, fun, relaxed, super helpful and talented workawayers, look no further. These two Scandinavians are the ones you're looking for! Martina and Sebastian, we can't wait to host you again!

It feels weird to rate Lou and Luca because they became our really good friends, but wow what an incredible experience! They are the most friendly and easy-going people, with the most adorable animals. We might have spent most of our time chatting and hanging out (and eating) but we still managed to do a little bit of garden work and to make some… read more peanut butters and apricot jams that they could sell. They have an amazing kitchen which we really enjoyed using! We even had a pancake bake off :D
We really can't recommend staying with them enough, make sure you put some extra work into your first message, it will definitely be worth it!

Staying with Lou and Luca was probably the best workaway experience I've had so far. I had so much fun working with Lou and the rest of the day was like spending some time with friends. We laughed a lot and Lou and Luca showed us so many amazing places. Luca cooks incredibly good vegan meals!
I am very thankful to have made such an amazing… read more experience and to get to know all of the sweet animals.

I am very much looking forward to seeing all of the development next year.

Where do I start? Staying with Lou and Luca was an amazing experience! They made me feel at home as soon as I arrived. I loved the conversations we had and they were always extremely helpful.

Lou always made the work we were doing fun and I loved meeting all of their animals! (Cooper I love you). Anyone would be really lucky to stay with Lou and… read more Luca as they have a beautiful home and beautiful hearts, plus Luca makes the best food.

Thank you so much for having me and for the amazing experience, chats and exploring with me! I will see you next year to see how the vegetables have grown!✨

Naomi is an incredibly sweet and thoughtful girl who can also be very funny! She works really well and is amazing to have around.

Definitely recommend her as a workawayer any day! We've had a great time gardening, cleaning the house and taking care of our animals. Thanks Naomi! Hope to see you next year! Good luck with the rest of your travels!